Day 311: Went to Power Group at
TAN followed by coffee with Y'vonne. I swear there are some people in this world who always make you feel better when you're in their presence, she is one of them.
Day 312: The block schedule I created isn't working for me so now I'm trying something new. Today I took my monthly goals that I shared in Power Group and divided them up week by week to make sure I do the tasks needed to help me meet those goals.
Day 313 - 314: Updated my regional rep target list by using
IMDb Pro to find all the agents whose clients were on the last few episodes of VH1's
Single Ladies, CW's
Vampire Diaries and BET's
The Game,
Let's Stay Together and
Reed Between the Lines since they all shoot in Atlanta.
Day 310: Edited my reel using iMovie {thank goodness for my MAC computer at work} and added it to all my sites:
You Tube, Vimeo, Actors Access, LA Casting, CAZT and my personal website. Now don't get me wrong, this is not a fancy shmancy reel like what Lex can do but it will suffice until I have all my scenes ready to go for her. I'm waiting on the "Promotion" scene that should be edited by the end of the month and I still need to shoot one more scene with my classmate Y'vonne. So till then, I'm very proud of my newbie attempt to edit this thing!
Day 294: Office hours - Updated my website and went through my notebook of story ideas expanding on the ones that seem viable and discarding those that no longer interest me.
Day 288: Sent a thank-you note to the administrator of the Kaiser Educational Theatre Program.
Day 289: Rehearsed a scene for my reel that I'll be shooting tomorrow. Went over sides for an audition on Thursday.
Day 254: Today I've decided to give myself a
block schedule. I read about this years ago when I was still a wedding planner, as it was touted as a great way for entrepreneurs to organize the many things they need to do on a daily basis. Since I've been feeling kind of overwhelmed lately, I'm going to give this a try. You basically break up your week into categories of tasks that need to be done. See example below...
While the schedule shown above is that of a photographer, my categories as an actor/writer/budding producer are as follows:
Coffee Dates & Meetings
Writing
Marketing {E-blasts, mailings, drop-offs, social media}
Rehearsing
Producing {Scheduling, locations, etc.}
Admin {Processing email, answering email, updating websites}
Blogging
I'll let you know in a couple of weeks how it's working out for me.
Day 226: No internship today. Stayed home with Jayden since he had a stomach bug and submitted on Actors Access and
CAZT {Yep they have a submission site now. I'll write about it in a later post}.
Day 227: Rehearsed a few hours before class with my beautiful classmate
Yvonne Truong. We've decided to do scene together for our reel- something in the vein of Law & Order/Criminal Minds/CSI, you get the picture. At some point in the next 2 weeks I have to write it. It'll only be a page so it shouldn't take too long.
Day 225: Today I decided to email a handful of managers on my target list while I take a minute to decide whether or not to move forward with the manager who offered to sign me. Since I have a week to make a decision, this is what I sent out to the managers on my list...
Subject: Meeting this week?
Hi *****,
I've recently been offered representation from another management company and would love to meet with you before making any decisions.
7 quick tidbits about me:
- I wrote & starred in the webseries "Diary of a Wedding Planner." You can view the most recent episode here.
- In my last 7 commercial auditions I've had 3 callbacks and 1 avail. Almost there!
- I'm currently producing the official documentary on the Mitrice Richardson story.
- I'm continuing to study audition & on-camera technique in an ongoing class at Stan Kirsch Studios.
- I'm staying in shape by returning to my former love of hip-hop dance at Your Neighborhood Dance Studio.
- Have a versatile look- rocking my natural hair for commercial auditions & long curls for anything theatrical.
- Have a stable night job in production that keeps my days completely free for auditions. No golden handcuffs!
If you have room in your roster for an adorably sassy mid-20's black chick who values training, I'd love to meet with you at your earliest convenience.
Cheers,
Brandi Ford
Notice what I didn't have on there? Something that says, I recently booked... because I HAVEN'T BOOKED ANYTHING SO FAR THIS YEAR and we're about to be in SEPTEMBER!!!! AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHH$*%&^$%$@$#@$!!!!!
If you can't tell, it's frustrating. I'm frustrated.
*Sigh* But I had to write
something so I called attention to what sounded good in my head.
Well, these were the 3 {mildly depressing} same day responses I received:
- Who is the other company followed 5 minutes later with I saw your reel. This is a pass for me.
- Thank you for your interest. I do have a couple of clients who would be a direct conflict and it would not be fair to you or them to meet. Best of luck.
- Hi Brandi: Take the rep offered! I can't take on another actor at your level right now!
After eating some ice cream {doesn't that make EVERYTHING just feel better, at least temporarily?}, I soaked in what the first manager had to say and resolved to shoot some more footage for my reel. I already knew I needed to add some dramatic scenes to it but this highlights that need even more.
Bottomline: Gotta get this taken care of and until I do, no more submissions to representation.
Day 224: Reviewed manager contract and made note of 2 sections I don't understand, 1 section I want to amend and 1 section I want to remove. Going to ask around for entertainment lawyer referrals and will hopefully find someone who can review & amend this contract for $150 or less.
Day 186: Today I was supposed to go to
TAN for my monthly power group meeting and sadly I had to miss it. On the bright side, I missed it because I got a part-time gig doing reality TV transcriptions from home for a production company. It's only 2 days a week and it may only be for this week alone but if I do a good job they could use me again in the future. So I was literally glued to my computer desk at home all day. Stephen took the car so I wouldn't have to stop to drop him off and pick him up and since the boys are back he took them to Stevie's daycare today. Once done {at 8:30 pm} I went straight to work at my night job. We were laid off for a week but now we're back and thankfully we've left downtown and moved to a cooler & closer spot in Hollywood. So acting or writing-related tasks today? No. But I do score big in the day job department, which will help continue to fund my {many} acting expenses.
Day 187: Today was much like yesterday except I did take a moment to organize my inbox. This was monumental. I have so many people to follow up with about so many different things and I get crap in my email all day long, some relevant, some not. So I created a few extra filters and organized my labels even better than they were before. I can already feel the level of anxiety I have when checking my email go down because my brain now has some peace when I look at it.
Day 171: Natural Foods Commercial Callback- Always funny to audition in a room full of people. This one went well. Commercial drop-off at Michael Sanford Casting, it was near my callback so why not?
Documentary Meeting.
Website Wednesday- took care of updates.
Day 172: Lunch with Leshelle, a friend of mine who's just got promoted to PR Director for Tavis Smiley's book division and is moving to New York next month to get started. Congrats girl!
McDonald's Commercial Audition at Kathy Knowles Casting. Was paired up with a guy who I had really good chemistry with so I fully expected a callback!
Day 173: McDonald's Commercial Callback- this wasn't nearly as smooth as the audition. We were brought in in groups of 5 and one of the girls I had to interact with was a hot mess. I don't know any other way to say it. She was needy and gave so many excuses as to why she didn't bring what they asked for and talked a mile a minute about irrelevant crap to the session runner right before he said action. We were supposed to do some improv and then say our lines and I had to keep feeding her her opening line and it was just... irritating. I'm sure there was something I could've done better too but in the moment I was just thrown off by her weirdness. Of course, in this industry there's no rhyme or reason to any of this so she could easily book this spot and leave me scratching my head wondering what the hell they were looking for in the first place.
Day 148: Updated my contact lists in my Mail Chimp e-newsletter database. Planning to send out a newsletter in June to recap what I've done the first half of the year.
Day 149: Watched the director's cut of episodes 4 and 5 of DWP to give notes. For once there actually weren't any additional notes for me to give which is great! This means they're both ready to get scored and color corrected and keeps us on track for our release date.
Day 150: Looked through the Actors Access/Breakdown submissions for the 3 roles we're casting for episodes 6 and 7. The director of these 2 episodes,
Carrie Certa, put out the breakdown and will be running the casting session. For the first time ever I won't actually be there during casting {since I'll be in class} but I'm actually happy to turn this over to someone else which is why I wanted to make sure I took a look at who she's planning to bring in. I added a few people who I'd like to come in and I removed a few actors who, for one reason or another, just don't fit the bill. There were quite a few actors who look absolutely perfect for the role so it will be great to see their auditions since she'll be putting them on tape.
Day 137: Updated my theatrical representation target list using IMDb Pro to look up the rep of the actors in the last 10 episodes of True Blood.
Day 138: Updated my theatrical representation target list using IMDb Pro to look up the rep of the actors in the last 10 episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.
Day 139: Updated my theatrical representation target list using IMDb Pro to look up the rep of the actors in Jumping the Broom, American Weapon, Stomp the Yard 2 and Notorious, all films recently cast by Twinkie Byrd.
Day 131: Mailed over 70 postcards to CD's, agents and managers inviting them to the
DWP screening.
Day 132: Last minute shopping at Michael's and Target for a few remaining items needed for our raffle at the party.
Day 133: Joined Sold Out Crowd for free for the month of May.
From their website:
Sold Out Crowd is the only Los Angeles-based service that connects theatre producers with theatre lovers when those extra, unsold seats need to be filled. Our members gain free access to some of the best shows in town. That’s right; the tickets are free! Members just pay a small processing fee. Plus, we donate 10% of proceeds back into the L.A.-based, non-profit theatre community!
How much is that small processing fee you ask? Only $3 per ticket. That's right, just 3 bucks to see live theatre all around town! In order for this to be possible, you pay a membership fee of $50 a year {though as a member of The Actors Network it's half-off!} but for the month of May you can try them for free to see if you like their service. If you're interested in taking them up on their free offer, and why not? then follow these easy steps...
- Go to www.soldoutcrowd.com/audience
- Click purple "Join the Crowd" button
- Carefully read and agree to the member agreement
- Enter FREEFORMAY and click "Show Discount" {You must do this for the code to work}
- Select the "Silver 2" membership which will then show "12 Months for Original $50 - Special $0"
- Please note that while it says 12 months, the code is only good for 1 free month and will expire on June 1, at which point you are welcome to renew.
- Click "Continue" and finish the sign up process
- If the site asks for payment information, DO NOT PROCEED. Go back and try again, following the steps outlined above.
I've already RSVP'd to go see
Gypsy this Sunday. Very cool service.
Day 127: Watched The King's Speech. I still prefer The Social Network to it but it is definitely a beautiful story and the performances are rich and well worth watching.
Day 128: Submitted the first 3 episodes of
Diary of a Wedding Planner for consideration to the
New Media Film Festival that will be held here in LA later this month.
Day 129: Mailed 22 postcards to casting directors inviting them to the
DWP party next week.
Day 125: Created a weekly routine for administrative tasks aka Office Hours. My plan is to do the following....
- Sunday: Calendar Check- look at the various entertainment industry organizations for upcoming networking events & seminars
- Monday Mailings: Send out any headshots or postcards as needed
- Tuesday: Documentary Day
- Website Wednesday: Post any updates needed on my various websites & profile pages. {I don't usually update my main site as quickly as I should so this weekly update should get me on track}
- Thank-You Thursday: Send thank-you notes and/or gifts as needed
- Friday Follow-Up: Return emails & phone calls I've put off and contact folks I simply want to reach out to.
I'm hoping that organizing my admin duties will help me do them consistently until they become like clockwork rather than always trying to fit them into my schedule haphazardly.
Day 108: Mailed my headshot & resume to the CD's of the following TV shows...
- Days of Our Lives
- Fresh Beat Band
- Entourage
- Bones
- In Plain Sight
- General Hospital
- Love That Girl
- Memphis Beat
- Hung
- NCIS LA
- Private Practice
- Rizzoli & Isles
Some of these shows I can easily fit into (Love That Girl) while others are more of a stretch (Entourage) but I wanted to send them to all of these anyhow because it is feasible that I could get a small co-star role on any of these shows. It's definitely time, however, for me to order some postcards for my continued contact with these CD's. It's less expensive and it's easier for them to receive.
Day 109: Met with
Aaron Graham at the SAG/AFTRA building for a postcard design consult and had lunch with
Tara T. to catch up on what each of us are working on and how we can continue to support each other in our endeavors.
Day 110: Visited
Aqua Lounge to make sure it will work for the DWP screening and it does! It looks tiny on the outside but once you walk in it's quite spacious and full of comfy lounge seating. They're giving me a phenomenal deal thanks to Alexandra Rembranc of
Sterling Engagements, the real wedding planner who is helping me produce this event. Houston we have a venue, thank God!!
Day 106: Mailed headshot & resume to the 2 remaining managers {who also produce} on my list. Also met with
Greg & Lex at my favorite cafe for back to back meetings. First we met with
Carrie Certa who will be joining the DWP crew as the director of episodes 6 and 7. She was a ball of energy with great ideas and a wonderful sense of humor so we're all looking forward to working with her tentatively in early June. Afterwards we met with the director of the documentary to discuss what's needed in order to apply for a grant with a deadline that's fast approaching. Both meetings went very well! I went home a little bummed because I checked my email and saw that I was not selected for the PGA Diversity Workshop but what can you do? Well, shake it off and focus on the next thing.
Day 104: Stapled & glued resumes to 35 headshots. Doesn't sound like much fun and it wasn't but it's necessary if I don't want to have to keep doing it one by one every time I get an audition or want to do a mailing. Since I watched the movie Lottery Ticket while doing it, it wasn't so bad.
Day 105: Today I didn't do anything acting related but what I did do was feed the homeless at the New Image Shelter near downtown. Man it's amazing how spending just a few hours out of your day at a place like this can remind you of all the blessings you really have. Lately I've been extremely frustrated since I haven't found the right car that's within our small budget and it's caused me to be pissy at times. But going to this shelter today makes you forget about all of that and forces you to be grateful for all of the MANY things that we take advantage of each day. I have clean water, food to eat, a comfortable bed to sleep in, a roof over my head and transportation in the form of my husband's car to get to where I need to go. This was exactly where I needed to be today to get my mind right.
Day 101: Spent hours searching for the perfect venue for our upcoming screening + fundraising party. The Bungalow Club won't work as they won't allow us to collect money for the fundraising portion {though otherwise it would be a PERFECT venue since they offer free screenings with fantastic happy hour deals on Monday nights} and after checking out Boardner's tonight I've had to cross them off the list as well. Funky cool little bar but totally the wrong vibe for this crowd. So the search continues...
Day 102: Visited Bluebird Cafe and Royal T Cafe in Culver City to see if they'd work for the party. Bluebird, while quaint, won't work at all since their event space is kind of being used for storage right now. Royal T on the other hand, is very unique, though I have a feeling that that out of the box quality comes with a hefty price tag. We'll see once the owner gets back to me.
